Bush and Obama hold hands

9/11 was a shock to the country. It was a surprise attack that the people did not see coming. It shattered a false sense of security, the US viewed terrorism and the Middle East conflict as being detached from their personal lives. After a shock like this, any shock like this, it is customary in US history for there to be an overreaction. It is normal for the government to go too far in response. Think of the Japanese internment camp after Pearl Harbor, think of the the actions taken during the Red Scare. Overreaction is expected and normal. Iraq had nothing to do with Al Qaeda, Iraq had no WMD's, Iraq was simply a target chosen for retribution. The Patriot Act was signed a month after 9/11 and gave the President unprecedented powers to spy on citizens. These were overreactions by the Bush administration.

President Obama ran on a campaign of change. He ran to correct the oversteps made by the Bush Administration. He campaigned on transparency, he campaigned to close Guantanamo Bay (which had become a symbolism of US hypocrisy), he campaigned as a Constitutional Professor. He campaigned to reset the path of the Country. He was elected into office with thunderous cheers of "Change!"

President Obama prolonged the war in Iraq. He did not close Guantanamo Bay and has no future plans to do so. President Obama re-passed the Patriot Act largely unchanged. He did not hold public hearing to prosecute or investigate the wrongs committed under the Bush Administration, akin to the hearing held for the Iran-Contra scandal. President Obama did not make government more transparent. President Obama did make unprecedented use of drone attacks along the Pakistan border. And in a beautiful culmination of not only prolonging Bush Administration policy but stepping it up, President Obama signed the NDAA allowing for the indefinite detentions of US citizens, on US grounds, without trial, in Guantanamo Bay or anywhere else in the world, for "belligerent" acts against the government.

If President Bush had done the above, if Bush had assassinated three American citizens as Obama did, if Bush had passed the NDAA, there would be an uproar. There would be a pushback. With President Obama, the liberal media ignores it and the conservative media supports it. It is bullshit. It is a tacit acceptance of the policy. If this is accepted, what happens when the next administration uses these powers, or the administration after that. What happens when a person like Santorum is elected President in a decade and he has the established executive branch powers of the NDAA. Think on it.

President Obama represented the opportunity for the overreactions of the Bush administration to be a blip of American history disdainfully read about in history class by our grandchildren along with the Japanese internment. President Obama is making the necessary steps for the Bush history to be our American future.

& I say fuck that.

30 reasons Obama is a terrible President

Obama is a bad President. Don’t believe me? I’ll back it up with a short list for you.

Reasons Obama is a terrible President:

1. Promised to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act, then had the DOJ defend the Defense of Marriage Act in federal court. Source

2. Signed NDAA into law authorizing indefinite detentions of US citizens in Guantanamo Bay Source

3. Obama administration contracted Blackwater for quarter of a million worth of work. Source

4. More than half of Obama’s largest contributors (500k or more) were given an administration job. Hello patronage and nepotism. Source

5. Loaned Solyndra over half a billion taxpayer money when it was already known the company was planning layoffs and later would go bankrupt. Source

6. Extended Patriot Act largely unchanged Source, Source

7. Obama has expanded into over 75 countries secret forces operations, including secret prisons and drone attacks. Source

8. Obama has intensified proxy war in Somalia Source

9. Expanded use of Drone attacks in Pakistan; including targeting a funeral for a person suspected of murder and targeting first aid responders. Source, Source

10. Assassinated three American citizens Source

11. Met secretly with health care executives for assistance in formulating Obamacare Source

12. Appointed Eric Holder to Attorney General, registered lobbyist until 2004 Source

13. Appointed Vilsack to Secretary of Agriculture, lobbyist for NEA (Public School Union) as late as 2008 Source

14. Appointed William Lynn to Defense Secretary, Raytheon lobbyist Source

15. Geithner’s chief of staff is a Goldman Sachs lobbyist Source

16. Obama appointed Geithner Secretary of the Treasury, he is former President of NY Fed Source

17. Political Affairs Director Gaspard was lobbyist for SEIU (Union). Source

18. Appointed Michael Taylor to be Deputy Commissioner of FDA, former Monsanto executive Source

19. Signed executive order to allow CIA to continue renditions. Source

20. Obama has secretive government, denying more FOIA requests than Bush Source

21. 30 companies, including McDonalds, exempted from healthcare reform. Source

22. Obama opposed allowing importation of cheap drugs from other countries to appease health care executives. Source

23. Current Chief of Staff, Jacob Lew, was the former COO of Citigroup’s alternative investments division (he invested in derivatives market). Source

24. Former Chief of Staff, Bill Daley, was Vice Chairman at J.P. Morgan Source

25. Wasted billions on Cash for Clunkers, subsidizing car market and driving up prices of used vehicle market. Source, Source

26. Obama failed to get a budget passed for over 2 years. Source

27. Made recess appointments to the NLRB when Congress was not on recess. Source

28. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) cost $900 billion and did not lower unemployment. (below is Obama Administration projections vs. reality)

29. Obama extended federally funded unemployment benefits 73 weeks, bringing the total to 99 weeks of unemployment benefits. Source

30. Obama bailed out auto industry, represents moral hazard and corporatism Source

DISCLAIMER:

• I realize some of these are more important than others, obviously passing the NDAA and allowing the indefinite detention of American citizens is exponentially worse than appointing lobbyist Holder.
• Do not assume I agree with Bush or another politician because I disagree with Obama.
• I am opposed to corruption, corporatism, interventionist wars, secrecy, and policies destroying our liberties.